Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
I am pretty sure I'm missing the point to a new Devry University commercial. All these people are excitedly underlining/circling their graduation date on their planners and calendars, clearly very proud of themselves for achieving so much. But I couldn't focus on that. Instead, I kept cringing because they were writing with permanent marker and I kept going "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT'S GOING TO LEAK THROUGH! YOU ARE PRESSING DOWN TOO HARD! THAT'S PAPER, NOT CARDBOARD! NEXT MONTH WILL HAVE NO PLANS BECAUSE OF BAKWARDS 'GRADUATION'! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF EDUCATED!" Clearly, I have problems.
Anyhoo, Onwards with the chapter!
After Sasuke locked the back door to his and Naruto's home, he immediately sprinted towards Hokage Tower.
He ran on the rooftops, jumping over the gaps in between. The Kyuubi had said that its ability to nullify the pain Naruto was in was temporary. Naruto had also reiterated that point after he was placed on the couch inside. Sasuke had not thought about the time getting Naruto inside as wasted, but it certainly meant that the Uchiha needed to hurry faster.
When the Tower was within sight, Sasuke jumped down to the ground; it was too far of a leap from the shop rooftops without building up chakra to enforce the muscles, and Sasuke did not have time for that. He briefly considered going inside and going through the proper entrance, but immediately dismissed the idea. Naruto needed help now.
Without a second thought, Sasuke scaled the side of the building. He knew that Kakashi and Naruto's former mentor Jiraiya had done so in the past, so Tsunade should be used to it. And if not, she had better get used to it for Sasuke would waste no time whenever Naruto was concerned.
Sasuke flipped over the wooden structure outside the window of Tsunade's office and crouched onto it. Through the window he could see Tsunade's back as she was reading paperwork at her desk.
He tapped on the window before opening it, signaling that she should turn around.
Tsunade sighed and said, "First Jiraiya, then Kakashi, and now you. Disregard for doors must be something else handed down to students in that line."
She turned around as Sasuke entered the office.
When her eyes fell on him, they widened a bit. Looking straight into his eyes, she asked seriously, "Why are you not wearing a shirt?"
He could have told her the truth; that Naruto had gleefully asked for Sasuke's shirt while in his sedated state and Sasuke could not deny his boyfriend the request. But that would only waste time, and Sasuke could not afford to wait.
"Sai broke out of prison," Sasuke announced instead of answering Tsunade's question.
Tsunade sighed again and said quietly, "I now."
"You knew?" Sasuke accused. He narrowed his eyes at her, not caring that she was Hokage and he was a former missing-nin on probation. She should have told Sasuke and Naruto immediately! She could have prevented Naruto from learning about Sai escaping in public from a villager!
Tsunade met Sasuke's glare with one of her own.
"I am the Hokage, Uchiha," she said with a tone of authority, "You will do well to remember that."
Sasuke did not reply, and nor did he lessen his glare. He did not care if she was Hokage or even if she was the daimyo; he only cared about Naruto.
They continued to glare at each other until Tsunade broke eye contact.
She turned around to pick up something on her desk.
Still facing the desk, she said, "I knew about the prison outbreak since this morning after the guards changed shifts. The members of Naruto and Sai's former ANBU Squad have all been found dead inside their cells except for Sai, whose cell was empty."
Though Sasuke's expression was still set in a slight glare, he inwardly smirked at part of the new information he had just learned. Those worthless scums deserved nothing less than death. However, that bastard Sai was still on the loose and that was unacceptable.
"There was no sign of the locks being picked on any of the cells, and there was hardly a struggle inside the cells of the now deceased," Tsunade explained, "This suggests that this was an inside job. Especially since the maximum security cell Sai was in would have set off alarms if there was any signs of being broken in or out of it."
Sasuke's glare intensified. How the hell did they not know about this sooner? Who the hell would want to break that bastard free? Sasuke was angry, and he knew a certain fucking bastard who he would just love to take his anger out on and murder.
Tsunade turned around to face Sasuke again with a sheet of paper in her hand.
"As soon as I learned what has happened, I ordered for a village-wide search by the available Jounin not already on missions. And all the guards who were on shift when all this happened have been brought in for interrogation, no matter if they weren't stationed anywhere near the cells in question," she explained. She had gestured towards the sheet when she mentioned the search party, so Sasuke suspected that was a list of the ninja she had sent.
Even though Tsunade claimed to have done much after learning that fucking bastard had escaped, she had left out something crucial.
"Why did you not tell Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his tone still accusatory.
"I was trying to protect him!" Tsunade exclaimed angrily, flinging the piece of paper behind herself, "I was hoping that we would have found Sai by now and we would have nothing to worry about!"
"Too late," said Sasuke through grit teeth.
"I assumed Naruto knew from the moment you barged in," said Tsunade tersely, "But rest assured, we will find him soon and he will stand trial. You can go back and tell him that I have things under control."
"We do not have time for that, Naruto needs help now," Sasuke stressed the last word so the woman in front of him would understand the urgency.
Tsunade looked affronted, but said, "Explain," instead of reminding Sasuke of her title that he could not care less about for the time being.
"When Naruto learned that Sai escaped, he had a relapse. His repressed memories overwhelmed him," Sasuke informed her as fast as he could since he could not waste any more time.
Tsunade's eyes widened and her entire expression fell, "Which memories?" she asked.
Sasuke almost wanted to make a gesture of exasperation. "He was in too much pain to tell me," Sasuke told her.
She gasped and had a crestfallen expression. Good. Now she understood the severity of the situation.
"The Kyuubi has put Naruto in a sedated state. He is no longer in pain from the memories, but the Kyuubi said that the effect was temporary. Naruto needs the medication he was first given after being awoken from being under control," Sasuke explained, mentally making sure that he had not forgotten if the Kyuubi had said anything else.
Tsunade paused for a moment, her eyes were still on Sasuke, but her focus was not. She appeared to be deep in thought.
The silence lasted more than six seconds. That was five seconds too long.
Sasuke was about to demand that she do what Sasuke had just told her to do when Tsunade turned to face the door and shouted, "SHIZUNE!"
She turned back to Sasuke and said, "I have the medication in the hospital. Unless Naruto's current prescription would be suffice? I have more of that here in my office."
Sasuke immediately shook his head in the negative. "The Kyuubi was very specific that the original medication be used. It said that the current medication is not strong enough."
"Did you find all this out by going into Naruto's mind again?" Tsunade asked.
Sasuke nodded his head in confirmation. While he did so, though, he was furious and wondered why the hell did it matter? Naruto needed the medication as soon as possible!
After a small pause, Tsunade asked another question, "Do you know how long the Kyuubi will sedate Naruto?"
"No," Sasuke answered, "Both Naruto and the Kyuubi said that it is only temporary and that Naruto needs to get the medication soon."
Tsunade nodded, but still did not move.
Sasuke was about to demand that they leave that very moment when Shizune scrambled into the room.
"Lady Tsunade?" she asked, slightly out of breath. Her eyes scanned the room and widened when she saw Sasuke, who suddenly remembered that he was not wearing a shirt.
The Hokage turned her head slightly and said, "I need to go to the hospital and then to see Naruto. You will remain here and keep track of the search."
"Understood!" Shizune promptly responded.
Nodding, Tsunade then turned back to Sasuke and said, "We need to hurry."
Sasuke had to repress rolling his eyes or making another gesture of frustration while he jumped back outside the window. He knew that they needed to hurry; he was the one telling Tsunade how urgent the situation was!
Once he was outside, he immediately made way towards the hospital, Tsunade not far behind him.
"What floor?" Sasuke called out behind him. He did not want to waste time going inside the building.
"Top," Tsunade answered. Sasuke nodded and quickened his pace. She did as well, ending up only a half a step behind him.
When the hospital was within sight, Tsunade ordered, "Open that window!"
He had to look at where she was pointing, and grunted, "Hn," in acknowledgement.
His hand was reaching for a shurikan inside his pouch when the Hokage told him, "Open and not break. It would set off alarms if a window breaks."
Sasuke grit his teeth in annoyance. He understood the logic, since the windows in the hospital were sturdier than most, and only those breaking in or out would need the window as an escape. He supposed he would have appreciated it if Naruto was inside the hospital, but it was in his way now so it was nothing more than a time wasting nuisance.
He reached the window first and immediately started to pick the lock. It took a moment after Tsunade landed next to him in order to weaken it, but he had done so enough so that Tsunade could use her chakra enforced strength to pull the window up.
When the window was open, Tsunade pushed herself inside. Sasuke stayed outside on the wall; he would be of no use inside so there was no need for him to use any of the remaining time climbing in and out of windows.
"Did the Kyuubi say how much?" Tsunade asked from inside.
"No," Sasuke immediately responded.
There was silence from the room aside from the sound of glass bottles being moved around. While he waited, Sasuke found himself tapping a finger against the wall.
He normally would not fidget, but this was no 'normal' problem.
Sasuke shifted his weight, clenched his fists, bit the inside of his cheek, rubbed his arm, and fidgeted some more. Time was moving so slowly as he waited for the Hokage to collect the medication, yet moved so quickly as he waited to be able to return to his Naruto.
FINALLY Tsunade shouted, "I have all the medication! Now go!"
Sasuke shot off of the wall and sprinted towards his home with Naruto. He knew the Hokage was not far behind him so he did not bother to check.
They jumped over the rooftops again; they could not afford to waste time with people ogling at Sasuke without his shirt or try to get Tsunade's attention.
When the house was in view, Sasuke shoved his hand in his pocket and called over his shoulder, "I left him in the living room. It is fastest if we go through the back."
Tsunade confirmed that she heard the information and the two jumped off the final rooftop and landed in front of Sasuke and Naruto's home. They ran to the back while Sasuke pulled the key from his pocket.
He skid to a stop on the back porch in front of the door. He shoved the key into the lock and was alarmed when it turned without any resistance.
Sasuke immediately burst into the house and rushed straight to the couch.
It was empty.
"What?" Sasuke exclaimed.
Where was Naruto?!
Sasuke had left his boyfriend on the couch!
Naruto had demanded for Sasuke's shirt so he could stay on the couch and block out the light!
Naruto had called out that he loved Sasuke from the couch!
Sasuke had said that he loved Naruto as well and had to direct it to the direction of the couch!
Sasuke had left Naruto on the couch!
WHERE WAS NARTUO?!
"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled out, putting his hands on the couch as if it would reveal where his boyfriend was.
"What's wrong, Uchiha?" Tsunade demanded, "Where is Naruto?"
"He was right here!" Sasuke shouted in response. He gestured towards the couch desperately.
"On the couch?" Tsunade asked.
"YES!" Sasuke yelled, rushing to the chairs. He could see that Naruto was not sitting on either of them, but what if he was hiding behind them?
Sasuke continued to say, "After the Kyuubi sedated Naruto, I took him inside and placed him on the couch! He asked for my shirt so he could lie down and block out the light!"
"This shirt?" she asked.
Sasuke whirled around to see what she had in her hand.
It was Sasuke's shirt!
He quickly went to her and demanded, "Where did you find that?"
She pointed at the wall on the far side of the room, "It was on the floor."
Sasuke rushed to where she had pointed to. Why would his shirt be over here? Naruto would not have thrown it against the wall! He would always tease Sasuke about how anal retentive the Uchiha was about things being left on the floor.
He looked desperately from side to side, hoping by some miracle that he had overlooked somewhere Naruto was sitting.
When he couldn't see anything else, Sasuke dashed down the hallway to their room. MAYBE Naruto wanted to take a proper nap! He pushed away thoughts that reminded him that Naruto hated setting up their futon and regularly reminded Sasuke of his old lumpy bed in his old apartment and would not listen to Sasuke whenever the Uchiha reminded him of a time when bedbugs had invaded the old bed.
Sasuke yanked the door open and was distressed when he saw no futon and no Naruto.
He stepped inside the room just in case. Maybe Naruto went inside the room and fell asleep on the floor?
Naruto was not in the room, not even inside the closet.
"NARUTO?" Sasuke shouted again, dashing out to the hallway.
He popped his head inside each room, leaving the doors wide open, and cursing each time he did not see Naruto inside.
He let out a cry of despair when he reached the last room in the house and did not see Naruto there either.
Sasuke rushed back into the living room for the off chance that Naruto was in a different room while Sasuke was searching for him and had returned to the living room.
Naruto was not there; Tsunade was.
Sasuke had forgotten that she was there while he was searching for Naruto.
"Did you find him?" she asked. She had Sasuke's shirt in one hand, and a large bottle with pills inside in her other hand.
Sasuke shook his head despairingly, "No."
There was a moment of silence between them. In Sasuke's mind, he kept repeating 'where are you, Naruto?' while he circled the room looking around anything large enough to hide behind.
"Have you checked the garden?" Tsunade asked.
As soon as the question was asked, Sasuke hurried outside the back door and ran to the garden.
Why had Sasuke not thought of that option earlier? Naruto would oftentimes go to the garden whenever he was stressed! Maybe he wanted to take a nap near his flowers! That would explain why the door was unlocked!
Sasuke ran to the garden and saw with anguish that Naruto was not there!
He peered over flowers, poked his head through taller plants, walked around the entire garden three times.
Naruto was not in the garden.
Tsunade was outside by the time Sasuke made his third examination of the garden.
"Let's go back to my office," she said, "I will call for Naruto's friends in case he took refuge with any of them."
Sasuke replied by immediately sprinting off towards Hokage Tower.
He did not think about how unlikely it was that Naruto would go to someone else's house and not Hokage Tower or the hospital if he needed help. All he concentrated on was getting to Tsunade's office as soon as possible.
It took longer in Sasuke's mind to get to the office the second time around.
If he were thinking rationally, he would have guessed that the second trip took less time with the sheer speed since he was enforcing his leg muscles with chakra. But he was not thinking clearly; Naruto was missing!
When the Tower was in sight, Sasuke wasted no time in jumping down and scaling the walls again.
He reached the window, but did not stop to open it. Instead, he jumped up and rammed through it, breaking the glass.
Shizune shrieked with surprise at the noise and automatically raised her arms for self-defense.
Sasuke glared at her and raised his arms as well. If she thought that she could keep him from learning about Naruto's whereabouts then she was sorely mistaken and must be taught a lesson she would never forget if she survived.
"UCHIHA!" Tsunade barked, entering through the window herself.
"L-Lady Tsunade!" Shizune exclaimed, though still keeping her arms raised and eyes apprehensively on Sasuke; though she avoided eye contact.
"Shizune, call for Sakura, Kakashi, Lee, TenTen, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji," Tsunade ordered.
Shizune looked surprised and turned her head to see the Hokage, "But they are all ordered to participate in the search for the escaped criminal!"
"I will not repeat myself," Tsunade said tersely, "NOW!"
Shizune jumped a little, but nodded her head and exclaimed, "UNDERSTOOD!" She then rushed out of the room.
Tsunade sighed and said in a softer voice, "At ease, Uchiha."
Sasuke blinked, then lowered his arms, but did not let his muscles relax. He needed to be on full alert so he could leave and retrieve Naruto at a moment's notice.
There was no speaking while they waited for Shizune to return with the others. Tsunade occupied herself with clearing away the broken glass of the window while Sasuke stood stationary to the side. It was taking all his self-control to not leap out the window and start searching anywhere and everywhere for his Naruto!
After the glass was cleared, Tsunade said quietly, "I should bandage your arm."
"No," Sasuke responded immediately.
"Why not?" she asked, sounding tired.
"We should not waste time," Sasuke replied. He could wait to get a bandage for minor wounds AFTER he determined that Naruto was safe and in Sasuke's arms.
"It will take a little while for Shizune to return," Tsunade said to him.
"I am not the priorit—" Sasuke started to say when he was cut off by Tsunade.
"—Look at your arm!" she said, her tone slightly exasperated.
Sasuke did as she said and was surprised to see a large gash with other smaller cuts he had gotten since he used that arm to ram through the window.
He covered the gash with his other hand and was about to deny needing help when he was interrupted by Tsunade who said, "Naruto would not want you to get hurt on his account, and he would not forgive either of us if I did not properly bandage it."
Sasuke glared at her for speaking about his boyfriend while he was still missing, but allowed her to do as she pleased with his injured arm since he could not refute what she had said.
Tsunade opened a drawer in her desk to reveal a first aid kit along with bottles of medicine. One of them was a small bottle with Naruto's prescription like she had said earlier.
While she cleaned and bandaged his wounds, Sasuke glared out of the broken window. He should be outside searching for his Naruto. He should not be WASTING time like this!
Sasuke did not like this. Usually, he was the level-headed one and Naruto was the one who got jittery and could not stay still. But Naruto was not here now and Sasuke did not know where his boyfriend was!
All he could do was stay stationary and wait for others to lend their help.
Sasuke was used to doing things by himself, and only working with others when he was ordered to do so. He needed to find Naruto as soon as possible, though, and while he may normally loathe to do so, he needed others to assist in finding Naruto.
"Done," Tsunade murmured as she finished wrapping Sasuke's arm.
Sasuke looked down and saw that his entire forearm was bandaged as well as a few smaller bandages on his upper arm. It was slightly overdone, but judging by how Tsunade was minutely fidgeting her hands, Sasuke presumed that she had done so to occupy her hands and mind.
He crossed his arms—making sure the bandages were not jostled—and resumed glaring out the window. It was as if he was hoping that if he stared long enough then Naruto would show himself on the streets.
Though no matter how long he scrutinized the scenery before him, Konoha refused to reveal Naruto's location to him.
FINALLY Shizune returned to the office with the people she was sent to summon behind her.
"You called for us Lady Tsuna—" Sakura started to say but cut herself off when her eyes found Sasuke.
He did not acknowledge her, but he was acutely aware that she and everyone else had noticed that he was not wearing a shirt. He was not in the mood for it, though. Sasuke had not wanted to waste any time from rushing from home to the Hokage Tower by bothering to find something to wear. Naruto was the top priority.
Tsunade cleared her voice and Sasuke saw in his peripheral vision the others straighten up and turn their gazes from him to the Hokage.
"I need to ask something," Tsunade stated, "When was the last time you saw Naruto?"
The expressions the people by the doorway bore confusion at her inquiry.
"Not since before yesterday when he came to the hospital for his therapy," Sakura answered slowly.
"Indeed," Lee chimed in, "I have not seen our friend properly since he last had an outside training session and had fought Neji."
"I saw him walking around the village with Sasuke yesterday," Chouji answered, and others nodded along with Lee and Chouji.
"Why do you ask?" Neji questioned. Those standing by him turned to face Tsunade again and waited for an answer.
"Yea, and why were we summoned here? I thought we were assigned to help find Sai—" Ino cut herself off and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes darted to Sasuke. She probably assumed that Sasuke did not know about the jail break.
"I called you here because Naruto is missing," said Tsunade.
There was a collective gasp at her words.
"MISSING?" Kiba exclaimed.
"What do you mean missing?" Sakura asked, her tone full of dread and worry.
Others had also asked similar questions, or exclaiming that what Tsunade had just said must have been a lie. It was almost impossible to tell who said what, though, with how most everyone was speaking at once in increasingly louder voices. The only silent ones were Sasuke, Tsunade, Kakashi, and Shikamaru.
"Uchiha," Tsunade said suddenly, gaining the room's attention, "Why don't you explain what happened?"
Sasuke threw her a small glare—how dare she make him not only repeat aloud his failure to protect his most precious person but also waste time that should be spent searching for Naruto—and turned so that his back was to the window and he was facing the people by the doorway.
He said, "After Naruto learned of that fucking bastard's escape, he had a relapse of his repressed memories overwhelming him. I took him home and went into his mind. The Kyuubi sedated him and said that Naruto needed medicine from the Hokage quickly. I left him on the couch while Tsunade and I retrieved the needed medicine. When we came back to the house, Naruto was gone.
"Did you check all over the house," Sakura asked with a trembling but determined voice.
Sasuke did not bother to dignify the idiotic question with an answer.
Then Tsunade said, "And that is why I called you here. Is there any chance Naruto could have gone to see any of you?"
Hinata surprised Sasuke by speaking up and saying, "N-no Lady Tsun-Tsunade. We w-were out s-searching for S-Sai."
"He wasn't near me and Akamaru," Kiba added, "We didn't smell his scent while we were searching, or when we were coming here."
"We did not see him either," said Neji, gesturing towards Hinata and himself.
Tsunade's shoulders slumped minutely, before she squared them and ordered, "You three," she faced Hinata, Kiba, and Shino, "will exclusively search for Naruto and be led by Kakashi," she nodded towards him, and he returned the gesture. "The rest of you: continue to search for the escaped prisoner, but keep an eye out for Naruto as well."
"Dismissed!" Tsunade barked out. Ten out of the eleven that were summoned departed immediately; Sakura stayed behind.
"Master, can't I join them in searching for Naruto?" she asked, referring to the team Tsunade had just sent out with the others.
Tsunade shook her head in the negative and said, "You are a medical ninja and have not trained in tracking the way they have."
"But I need to be out there and help find Naruto!" Sakura protested, "And I know how to track people!"
"You would only be in their way. They have worked together for over six years extending and perfecting their tracking skills while you honed your medical prowess," Tsunade explained.
Sakura's expression was of slight hurt, most likely because she was just told that she would be getting in the way of others who exceeded her skill levels. That was always a sensitive subject with the girl. Sasuke observed.
She looked like she was going to refute what the Hokage had just said. But Sasuke was not willing to waste any more time than what had already been lost.
He said abruptly, "Enough. You know as much about tracking as they do about medical ninjitsu."
Sakura looked stunned at his words. She also looked a little hurt from what he just said, but Sasuke did not care. The only thing that was important was finding Naruto; not debating Sakura's personal skill levels.
Then Tsunade said, "I only said that you cannot go out with them, not that you could not search for Naruto at all."
Sakura's head whirled to face Tsunade.
The Hokage had a wry smile on her face as she said, "I know that it is near impossible for any one of your team to work on another mission when one of you is in danger, even if you are my apprentice; an official order to do something else other than looking for Naruto would fall on deaf ears, so I might as well order you to go find your teammate."
Sakura nodded and said, "Understood." Her eyes were slightly watery, but they beheld determination as well.
"You can search with Uchiha or on your own, just hurry," said Tsunade.
"It will be faster if we split up," Sasuke declared, then immediately jumped back out the window.
Sasuke sprinted all around the village for places Naruto might be. He ran to the ramen shop they had visited earlier in the day, but the owner and his daughter said that they had not seen the blonde since Sasuke led him away from the shop.
He rushed over to Naruto's old apartment in case Naruto got confused and went back to the shabby place, believing it to still be his 'home'.
The Uchiha dashed to stores Naruto liked to frequent, but he was not in any of them, nor did any of the staff say that they had seen him today.
Ideas for where Naruto could possibly be were running thin while thoughts of dread kept invading his mind.
Sasuke looked towards the sky as if asking for some divine revelation pertaining to Naruto's whereabouts to fall upon him.
After a minute had passed and no fresh ideas Sasuke scowled. As he slowly lowered his gaze, he saw the Hokage Monument.
THAT WAS IT! That was where Naruto would flee to whenever he was feeling particularly stressed, just like when he had flipped out during his first therapy session with a multitude of people.
Without hesitation, Sasuke ran towards the cliff overlooking the village.
Naruto had to be there; he just had to!
Sasuke could not waste time, so he used his chakra to be able to scale the cliff side in mere minutes. When he reached the top, he quickly scanned the area to see any hint of blonde hair or orange clothing.
He did not see anything besides rocks.
Sasuke did not let that deter him; he had trouble finding Naruto after the blonde ran here the first time.
He hastened across the top of the cliff and made sure to look over at each head he was passing by on his way to the Fourth's head. That was where Naruto was sitting before and where Sasuke hoped Naruto was sitting now.
Sasuke reached the Fourth and wildly looked around. He could not see Naruto, but maybe that was because he was not looking hard enough!
He jumped onto the head and activated his Sharingan.
The Uchiha circled slowly, absorbing every last detail. He could not see any sign of someone having sat down on top of the head, or even walking towards it!
When he reached full circle and was facing the village again, Sasuke had to admit that Naruto was nowhere to be found.
He really was missing.
An anguished cry tore from Sasuke's lips in a wordless shout.
His legs gave loose and he fell to his knees. 'WHERE ARE YOU, NARUTO?'
Naruto's head ached.
He did not know where he was, or even if he was standing or lying down. All he knew in that moment was that his head ached.
It was a mix between feeling muggy and throbbing. A muggy throbbing?
He did not know, and he was fairly certain that he did not care. He just wanted it to go away.
The majority of his body felt numb. He was vaguely aware that this numb felt different than times when parts of his body were rendered limp. Those times, it felt like the limp limbs were in some void and he just could not sense it at all. This numb felt different; he was aware of his body, but could not feel the majority of it.
If only his body could extend the same courtesy to his muggy throbbing head.
His eyes were closed shut, very tightly he might add. There was a very bright, white light somewhere nearby and that did not help with the muggy throbbing at all. So Naruto kept his eyes closed tightly in a vain attempt to block it out.
Naruto mentally groaned; the bright, white light was getting on his nerves. The living room did not even have a white light; they were all tinged yellow at Naruto's insistence since when he was a child he would stare at the yellow lights in peoples' houses and imagine himself inside a real house with a family and yellow lights.
This light was too damn bright. THIS was the reason he had asked for Sasuke's shir—
'SASUKE!' Naruto shouted in his mind.
Suddenly, Naruto's mind was alert. There was no more muggy. Throbbing? Yes. Muggy? No. He was totally not-muggy.
Now that he was not-muggy, things were not adding up.
His head hurt, but it should not have been throbbing at all. Kurama had taken the pain away and made him feel all loopy and happy.
There was a bright, white light annoying Naruto, but that was wrong as well. His and Sasuke's house did not have any bright, white lights. And none of the lights were on before since the windows streamed in enough light to make turning on lamps moot.
Sasuke's shirt was not on Naruto's face, and that was very wrong. Whenever he had trouble sleeping, Naruto would lean against the closest part of Sasuke he could to breathe in his scent to calm himself down. And Naruto distinctly remembered demanding for Sasuke to fork over his shirt before his boyfriend left.
And then when Sasuke came back—
No, wait. SASUKE did not come back home…
SAI WAS IN THEIR HOUSE!
Naruto opened his eyes with a start. He darted them in every direction, trying to see everything at once but absorbing nothing.
He closed his eyes again.
He needed to calm down. If he got too wound up, he ran the risk of sending his chakra haywire and reverting back to when he was being controlled. 'That's right, Naruto,' he thought to himself as he took calm, steady breaths through his nose like the toads had taught him, 'Just relax. Breathe in, two, three… And out, two three… In, two three… And out, two three…'
Naruto repeated the practice, increasing the time he spent breathing by a second longer with each go until he was counting to ten.
When he deemed himself calm enough, Naruto opened his eyes again.
At first, he could not see much of anything; that light was way too bright. It was kinda sorta REALLY blinding.
He squinted his eyes and peaked through his eyelashes to see that the reason that light was so bright was because it was a white bulb and there was no lampshade on it.
It also appeared that Naruto was directly facing the lampless light. That meant that Naruto was on the ground.
Awesome. He now knew what direction he was facing.
Still squinting, Naruto surveyed what he could see around the rest of the place he was in. The ceiling was a dark gray color.
That made it official: Naruto was NOT at home.
He could feel his heart rate beginning to speed up, but he closed his eyes again to calm himself down. It took less time this time, so he opened his eyes after he had counted six times.
After he opened his eyes again, Naruto decided that he needed to face a different direction; the light was way annoying. If Shikamaru was there, he would have definitely complained about it.
Naruto went to brace his arms out so he could pull himself up from his horizontal position, but he could not!
His arms were bound!
He tried to use his legs, but they were bound as well!
He attempted to call for help, curse whoever tied him up and dumped him in this room that was not home, or at least shout out his frustration, but his mouth was muffled!
He refused to let himself panic at the new revelations. Naruto would under no circumstance let himself panic and ruin all the progress he had made!
He had to think smart; he would pretend that he was Sasuke for a while.
First, Naruto tried to move his arms away from his body. When he could not, he did not panic, because he had determined that his arms were tied to the sides of his torso. Then, he tried to lift them up so he could raise them above his head. When he could not, he knew it was because his arms were tied in two places; around his upper torso and close to his hips.
Even though he knew this, he could not feel the rope. His body still felt numb. It was a comfort, though, to know that he could try to move his limbs, even if they were bound.
He tried moving his legs next. They would not spread apart—meaning that they were tied together—but he could raise them up and down.
Relief spread through Naruto. He was tied like a sushi roll, but he could move.
With some effort, Naruto lifted his legs and bent them. He could see them and saw that the thighs and calves of his legs were tied together, but his knees could still bend and straighten out.
Naruto immediately went to work. He used his legs to rock his body so he could use the motion to rock himself into an upright sitting position.
It took a few tries, but he eventually he achieved his goal and was sitting.
He surveyed the place he was in with his new vantage point.
He was in a small room, no bigger than kitchen area in his old apartment. It was not just the ceiling that was dark gray but the room as a whole. There was no furniture in the room. In fact, the only things in the room were Naruto himself, the lampshadeless, bright, white light, and a door.
A DOOR!
Naruto stared at the door; analyzing it. The doorknob did not seem to be higher than the average height, and the door did not seem to be a great distance away…
Maybe, if he turned around, then he can scoot himself to the door. Then he could use the wall next to it as a base and lean against it as he pushed himself to an invisible chair position. After he had done that, he could use his mouth or his head to twist the doorknob open.
He would worry about how to free his limbs when the time came for it.
Naruto began to turn himself around by bracing his feet firmly on the floor and twisting his torso and butt so he could replant his feet and repeat the process.
He had gotten sideways—parallel to the door—when he heard the doorknob being turned.
Naruto turned his head to face the person coming inside to the room.
It was Sai!
Naruto shouted a startled cry that was muffled by whatever gagged his mouth. His eyes were wide as he saw Sai walk inside closer to where he sat.
He frantically shook his head, shouting fruitlessly at his former teammate to stay away!
He was not scared per say, but he was certainly trepid! Naruto was tied up and had no means of defending himself.
Sai still approached, so Naruto—still shaking his head—scooted away from the other as fast as he possibly could.
But he was tied up like a fucking sushi roll!
Sai stopped in front of him.
Thoughts were scrambling inside Naruto's head. He could not defend himself, but that did not mean that Naruto was going to cower before the person who had controlled him!
Steeled with determination, Naruto raised his head and glared at Sai.
Sai met his gaze, but did not react to the blonde's scowl or obvious anger.
In fact, Sai seemed to be indifferent to everything.
It was almost as if Sai had reverted back to the emotionless pawn sent to Team Seven.
Naruto's glare dropped as his eyes widened. He could not see any indication that the person in front of him was the same teammate who had become Naruto's friend.
His eyebrows furrowed together with worry as he looked into Sai's eyes. After their first mission together to try to bring Sasuke back to the village, the newest member of Team Kakashi had a new spark in his eyes. The spark had flashed brighter with each passing mission together until Sai's eyes were full of life.
But now, those eyes were empty; void of emotion. They were as hollow as when they had first met.
Seeing Sai in such a state made Naruto concerned. Sai had not been like this even when they were on missions in ANB—
Naruto's eyes widened with a start, and he quickly returned his expression into a glare.
He had just reminded himself that Sai had controlled him!
The glare deepened as he brimmed with fury. THIS guy in front of him had controlled Naruto! Sai had made Naruto into nothing more than a life-sized DOLL! And he had made Naruto do unspeakable atrocities!
Naruto wished that he could free his limbs this second so that he could beat the hell out of the tormenter in front of him and tear him to shreds!
He also wished that his mouth was not gagged so that he could properly voice his outrage! He was shouting through the gag, but his words turned into a muffled garble.
Then the doorknob was turning to open the door, making Naruto stop shouting and face the doorway.
Danzo walked into the room.
Naruto's eyes met the one visible eye.
They held eye contact for but a moment before Danzo broke it and focused his attention to Sai, who had turned around to face Danzo as well.
While Danzo continued walking inside, Naruto saw that the sling he usually wore in his robes for his injured arm was missing.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that not only was the sling gone, but the entire arm was gone!
Before Naruto could wonder how the man lost his arm, Danzo spoke in a tone of displeasure, "Why have you not placed the controlling jutsu on the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki?"
Naruto felt his stomach drop with dread.
He was going to be controlled again?! But! But! But he had just been freed from being controlled! He—He had finally made progress in his therapy to get over being controlled! Sasuke had saved him!
He did not want to be controlled! Naruto wanted Sasuke to be with him! He wanted Sasuke and himself to defeat these deranged MONSTERS!
Naruto did not want to be controlled!
Sai spoke, breaking Naruto from his silent moment of dread, "You had ordered me to show you how the jutsu is performed."
Danzo was silent for a moment. His eye shifted from Sai, who was like an emotionless statue, to Naruto, who was glaring at Danzo with hatred and anger.
Then he said, "Very well. You shall continue with your orders."
Sai nodded and walked behind Naruto so he could not see.
Naruto's attention was quickly drawn back to Danzo, though, as the elderly man stepped in front of him where Sai had just vacated.
The man sneered down at him with an air of self-importance and authority. Danzo said, "You have been a great nuisance to me, Jinchuuriki."
Naruto tried to hide his flinch at what the man had just called him and continued to glare back up at him.
Danzo continued, "You have brought the entire village to ruin, and have corrupted the minds of most people into believing that you are not a threat to Konoha or a liability to the village's safety and well-being. And, as if that was not enough, you have poisoned their minds against the only ones who could cure the village of your malevolence and restore Konoha to its former glory."
Naruto wanted so badly to retort that Danzo was the one poisoning the village with his self-centered crusade. But, with his mouth gagged, Naruto had to settle for deepening the glare to Sasuke-proportions.
"But all is not lost," said Danzo as he deliberately paced in front of Naruto, "Even though you are merely a demon host, you had been regarded as useful when you were under Homura and Utatane's orders."
'Against my will, you piece of scum!' Naruto shouted in his mind. But since he could not speak properly, he did not react to Danzo's words.
Danzo said, "It is because of this use for you that you are not quarantined as you should be. You have confounded the village into believing that you are no threat and that you have tamed the demon that lives inside you."
He then turned back to Naruto and explained, "You will be under my orders now. I am going to expose what you really are: a menace and liability of the village. Then we will take advantage of your capability of demon bewitchment and rid Konoha of your curse upon the people. Then I will take my place as proper leader of this village."
Danzo then adorned a thoughtful expression and said, as if in an afterthought, "Homura and Utatane are under the impression that I will help restore them to their proper place as heads of the Council, but I suppose I will just have you dispose of them. That would certainly remind everyone that you are nothing more than a host to a demon whose only thought is of bloodlust."
Naruto's eyes widened in horror; Danzo not only wanted Naruto to betray his village but also to kill people as well!
He desperately called for Kurama in his mind. Kurama could stop this from happening! Kurama could overwhelm Danzo and Sai with its chakra alone!
Dread filled Naruto when he could not feel Kurama's consciousness.
The dread worsened to borderline panic when Naruto realized that he could not even feel Kurama's chakra! Or his own chakra!
Naruto tried to swing his legs to kick Danzo's feet and make him tumble so that he could escape, but his legs barely moved!
"Show me the jutsu," Danzo ordered Sai.
Naruto shouted a muffled cry and tried to drop to the ground. He tried his best to push off with his legs away from between Sai behind him and Danzo in front of him so he could roll away.
Before he could brace his feet, Danzo reached down and roughly pulled Naruto back up to an upright sitting position by his blond hair.
Naruto struggled frantically in the elderly man's grip. He could feel strands of hair being ripped off his head, but Danzo still held Naruto in place.
"Now," Danzo said to Sai as if Naruto had not tried in vain to free himself.
Naruto felt Danzo's hand move from his head to his neck. He struggled even more, twisting his body, tried to stand up straight, anything to free himself and stay in his conscious state of mind!
He glanced back at Sai, silently and desperately pleading for his former teammate to do the right thing and help Naruto escape.
Sai met his gaze.
Then he moved his hands to perform the jutsu.
Everything seemed to have fallen into slow motion as Naruto watched in horror as Sai's palm was thrust upon Naruto's forehead.
Then nothing.
Everything was dark, and Naruto knew what had happened.
He was being controlled again.
And that was the chapter!
School is going to start up soon, and it is amusing to see how all my college friends are excited to return to campus as soon as possible. "What day do you come back?" is frequently asked. A handful are moving back a few days before the freshman come for their week long orientation to help move them in; "Macon Movers" they are called and their sole duty IS to help freshman unload cars and transport things to dorm rooms. Others are moving in the first day available to everyone else.
Me? I'm waiting till the last day, as is my roommate. When asked why, I tell them that I am not leaving my home state until I absolutely have to. This notion is not understood by most, as they live in the same state as the college. I tell them that I am keeping my free food as long as I can. This is quickly brushed away as it is well known that I keep a large stash of snacks around the dorm room. I tell them I am enjoying the privacy of my own room for as long as I can. This is laughed at, as it is common knowledge that I love my roommate and have succeeded in making her my bitch. Then I pull my trump card and say I'm keeping air conditioning for as long as I can. This is accepted and understood, as I live in the oldest dorm and the only one without air conditioning.
Still, I am excited to go back. There are just some things you can only do at college. I miss showering at 3am because no one is bothered by shower noises in a communal bathroom. I miss being able to shout "FAPPING" when asked what am I doing in my room. I miss hallway bowling, or extreme The Floor Is Lava. But most of all, I miss the people. I am excited to go back.
Anyhoo, thank you to those who favorite/alerted this story! With every new chapter, more people discovery this story and it makes me all smiley inside. And an extra special thanks to those who review! You make me strive to write faster, so good on you! Thank you!